


Homecoming

by anu_strix



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Eventual violence, Gen, Hurt, Implied Kylux, Kylo Redemption, M/M, Multi, Pining Kylo, Platonic Finn/Kylo, Redemption, Stormpilot, after tfa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 08:16:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5778181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anu_strix/pseuds/anu_strix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a certain Knight of Ren arrives at the Resistance Base on D'Qar, tensions rise. Finn finds himself torn between his new friends (and lover) on the base and helping someone in need. Kylo discovers that while distance makes the heart grow fonder, complete estrangement feels like a fate worse than death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

The morning was cool and quiet, Resistance fighters resting after days of hard work. It was too early to awaken, and many of them remained in bed, safe and warm. There was, however, action on the base. General Leia Organa was up, drinking coffee and staring at maps and charts. If someone were to walk in, she could easily tell them she was trying to figure out where the escapees of the First Order had gone, and that wasn’t entirely a lie.  


Leia was looking for her son. The son who, after betraying the Jedis and killing the other padawans, had then joined the First Order, the Dark Side, becoming an apprentice of Snoke. And who had recently, in just the past month, killed his father, her husband, Han Solo. The pain was still fresh in Leia’s heart and mind, not only the final loss of Han, but what was also surely the final loss of Ben, or as he preferred, Kylo Ren.  


The General found her train of thought interrupted by the shriek of what could only be a crashing Starfighter. After a moment, the base shook, a chorus of booms and screaming metal rising into the air only seconds after. Leia jumped to her feet, running from the room, fear clenching her throat. There had been no authorized leaves, all the fighters should have been in the hangar, which led the General to believe the worst. Either someone inexperienced had taken a fighter out for a joyride, or an enemy fighter had crashed and more were coming.  


Scanning the horizon and slowing to a trot, while taking little note of the other Resistance members beginning to stream out of their quarters, Leia saw nothing but the smoke coming from the crashed fighter. A brief wave of relief rushed over her, this meant there were no First Order troopers coming to attack the base. However, the relief was short lived, as it dawned on Leia that one of her own had been in the crashed fighter. This thought spurred her back into a run, causing her to arrive at the smoking rubble moments before anyone else.  


It was then that Leia realized what kind of Starfighter had crashed, and the cold hand of fear clenched around her throat once more. Though the ship was badly mangled, the hull smoking and penetrated by many shots, it was clearly a TIE Fighter, used only by the First Order. It seemed that the soldiers and pilots that had followed the General realized this as well, as several backed up and others drew weapons.  


The fighter’s cockpit was thrown open with enough force to break the door off, causing it to fly a few feet before tumbling and falling, causing several Resistance members to stumble backwards with a shocked cry. The pilot, likely badly injured, then pushed themselves from the rubble, leaning heavily against the Starfighter. Leia studied the man for a moment, taking note of the thick black hair, pulled back from his face, which held a prominent nose, many freckles, and a strong jaw.  


“Don’t shoot!” the General cried out, stepping quickly towards the shaking man, drawing confused murmurs from the gathered crowd.  


As Leia approached the man, he pressed closer to the fighter, chest heaving as he seemed to run through the options of fight, flight, or freeze. It appeared that the choice was made for him, however, as the General grabbed his arms and pulled him easily from the rubble, guiding him to the center of the chattering crowd. She reached a hand up then, keeping the other firmly on his upper arm, to grip his face, her eyes searching with hope.  


“Ben?” Leia’s voice was barely a whisper, but it was heard by enough of the soldiers to cause a hush to fall. Leia’s other hand now came to rest on the man’s face, forcefully pulling him down closer to her height, as he towered over her.  


“Ben,” she repeated, “what...what are you doing here? How did you get--well,” she glanced towards the crashed TIE fighter, “never mind how you got here…” Leia trailed off, gazing at her son for the first time in years.  


The young man stared back at his mother, jaw clenched and twitching slightly, as if he was trying to hold back from yelling. However, when he finally spoke his voice was soft and hoarse, as though it pained him to speak.  


“Hello, mother,” the pair searched each other with probing, dark eyes for several moments, completely unaware of the crowd beginning to murmur and grow restless.  


However, the moment that was passing between the two suddenly was interrupted by an unintelligible yell from the crowd, causing Leia’s son to jerk back, his face slipping from her hands.  


“Kylo Ren!” the voice broke through once more, causing the crowd to part as Poe Dameron pushed his way through, an apprehensive Finn holding onto his arm.  
Ren studied the pair, eyes narrowing slightly as he took in Finn, “the traitor,” his voice was plain, lacking any emotion, but still hoarse, “well. I suppose I can’t call you a traitor anymore...I’m here as well.”  


Poe drew himself up as he came to a halt a few feet from the mother and son, opening his mouth just before Leia raised a hand to cut him off.  


“Not now, Poe,” Leia murmured, eyes fixed upon her son’s face, “I will speak with my son. Privately.”  


“General Organa--” Finn began, but found himself cut off by a harsh glare from the older woman.  


“I will speak with my son, privately,” she repeated, voice cold.  


The crowd around the General murmured quietly among themselves for a moment, then began to disperse, many continuing to cast wary glances at the Ren over their shoulders. Soon only four people remained: the General, her son, Poe, and Finn.  


“Ben, come to my office,” Leia kept her voice even, though a slight shake in her fingers betrayed her nervousness as she grasped one of her son’s large hands within her own.  


“General Organa!” Poe burst out, unable to keep himself silent any longer, “I understand that this man is your son, but don’t you think it’s dangerous to bring him into our base?”  


“The way I see it, he’s already here. Besides…” Leia paused to glance at her son, “if the First Order wanted to launch an attack, they wouldn’t send their most valuable person in a destroyed TIE Fighter.”  


It was at this point that a smirk came upon the Ren’s face and he took a step closer to his mother, almost as if just by being near her no harm would come to him at the Rebel base.  


“It wasn’t destroyed when I got in it,” despite the look he wore, Ren’s voice remained flat, “they attacked it when they realized I was deserting. I’m sure by now they’ve figured out it was me and not a rogue trooper…” here he glanced at Finn, then up at the horizon, “I would post guards and have soldiers and pilots at the ready. They may send troops here and it would be best to be prepared. Though they lost your coordinates with the destruction of Starkiller…” here he trailed off, continuing to gaze at the horizon, face grave.  


Leia studied her son for a moment then turned to the two apprehensive men, “you heard him. Go alert the others and set up a watch. I’ll be in my quarters with my son.”  


Despite the softly sputtered protests of Poe, the General firmly gave her son a tug, spurring him into action and causing him to follow her. As they left, she could hear Finn attempting to calm the pilot down, his voice low and cautious. Leia paid the two men little heed however. For the first time in 15 years she was touching her son, feeling the warmth of his skin. She kept glancing over her shoulder, eyes wide and betraying her apprehension, as if at any moment he would vanish. However, as Leia turned back around after another furtive glance at the blank face of her son, she couldn’t help but feel a pool of misery in her gut.  


Here was her son, the child that had run away 15 years ago, and yet Leia couldn’t help but feel that only a shell of that boy had come back. There was no bright curiosity in his eyes, no lopsided smile on his face. Though she could close her eyes and tell you where every freckle on her son’s face lay, she couldn’t tell you where the light in his eyes had gone. She would have preferred seeing darkness in his eyes, anything would be better than the emptiness they held.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, chapter one! The next chapter will be more Finn-centric, as this one was more so just setting the scene. I hope you guys enjoyed this! I appreciate any and all feedback!


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